Sunday, October 28, 2012

Washington state NPR affiliate KPLU took note of a sharp-eyed observation from a Reddit user that the consumption assumption in the Washington Voter's Guide for Initiative 502, which would legalize pot, pegs it at two grams per use.

To put that in perspective, the user commented that the amount I-502 is assuming per smoking session would amount to "Cheech and Chong sized monster joints."

However, casual users report smoking about a quarter to half a gram per session in a pipe with joints coming in at about .7 grams. Though some users claim to use as much as 1.5 grams per session, they added it was rare and they were not functional.

Individuals using two grams a day would probably be serious medical users with grave health conditions, the article noted.

The overestimation of use has a serious impact on the revenue projections of I-502. The assumption of two grams per use versus the reality of most users reporting a quarter to an eighth of that assumption means the actual taxes the initiative will bring in (if it's voted into law) will be much less than expected.